Politics and diplomacy are related but distinct. Politics is often about drawing lines that force opponents to embrace unpopular views, while diplomacy is about removing barriers and stressing common interests.

In a series of increasingly urgent meetings over the last year, European diplomats have sought to steer Iran away from a confrontation over its nuclear program. Despite small successes, victory is unlikely. Distrust among all interested parties, combined with the Iranian...

At a recent conference on the political effects of Arab satellite television, a prominent Arab talk show host blurted out, “I will tell you a secret about television. It is all about spectacle. It is about spectacle first, spectacle second, and spectacle third.”...

As news of kidnappings and beheadings flowed out of Iraq this summer, it was easy to assume that Iraq had fallen into a state of primordial chaos. The brutal forces of tribalism and barbarity appeared to be triumphing, and the modern appeared to be giving way to the...

Arab liberals are in unprecedented demand. Viewed by many in the West as the hope of their region and the antidote to Al Qaeda, government officials dine them (and often wine them) in salons in Washington, London, Paris, and beyond.

The last year or so has witnessed the rise of the term “Islamo-fascist.” While many seem to use the phrase more as an epithet than for its explanatory value, the fascist experience carries cautionary tales for the Middle East for what it says about both the...

There is a strange duality in U.S. diplomacy in the Middle East. Out in the open is traditional diplomacy, and the mood there is often tense. U.S. diplomats push reform, seek support for operations in Iraq, and battle proliferation. Middle Eastern diplomats urge greater...

It is rare to read an article these days on political change in Iran that does not include a long passage on how liberalization in women’s dress is a sign of coming political liberalization. First come the jeans, then comes the makeup, and then comes sweeping political...